FBI Releases New Details About Masked Suspect and Suspicious Backpack, Doubles Reward in Search for Nancy Guthrie

The FBI on Thursday released new identifying details about the masked suspect seen at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep hours before her mysterious disappearance from her Tucson home, as the search entered its twelfth day.The suspect who was seen attempting to disable the doorbell camera of Ms. Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, is described as a male of average build standing between 5 feet 9 and 5 feet 10 tall, according to the FBI’s Operational Technology Division.The FBI also released images of a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack, the same kind of backpack that the masked man appears to be wearing in the footage.The FBI said it released the details in the hope they would “help concentrate” the volume of public tips it has received — more than 13,000 so far. Authorities also doubled the reward for information leading to the location of Ms. Guthrie, or the arrest and conviction of those involved in her disappearance, to $100,000. The sum exceeds the value of one Bitcoin — about $66,723.26 — which an anonymous person demanded in a note to TMZ in exchange for information about Ms. Guthrie’s kidnapper. The anonymous correspondent, who complained in his second note to TMZ that he was “not being taken seriously,” reiterated his offer to hekp while also saying it would be his second and final attempt. The man, who was not named, wrote in his note to TMZ founder Harvey Levin that he wants the payment because coming forward would make him “a national rat.”“He says that he fears retaliation if he comes forward and that he needs the Bitcoin because he’s going to have to lay low after coming forward,” Mr. Levin said in a video on TMZ earlier Thursday. TMZ has been sharing the correspondence with the authorities. Mr. Levin said it’s also unclear if the correspondent really knows anything, or if it’s a hoax.On Thursday morning, authorities were seen putting up a tent in front of the same entryway where the masked man was seen attempting to tamper with the doorbell camera, and blood belonging to Ms. Guthrie was discovered shortly after her family reported her missing on February 1. Crime experts suggested the tent was being used to shroud the doorway in darkness so the authorities could see how certain brands of backpacks would look on a Nest surveillance camera.Investigators have expanded their search in the surrounding area, asking residents who live within a two-mile radius of Ms. Guthrie’s Tucson home to share surveillance footage of suspicious cars or people they may have seen in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.On Thursday, investigators recovered a pair of black gloves, similar to those seen worn by Ms. Guthrie’s possible kidnapper, about a mile and a half from Ms. Guthrie’s Tucson home. The gloves are being tested for DNA analysis, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday. On Wednesday, two investigators were seen leaving the home of daughter Annie Guthrie, carrying a white trash bag and paper grocery sack, according to reports. One of those investigators used a gloved hand to remove a stack of mail from the roadside mailbox. On Tuesday, investigators appeared to make their first significant break when FBI Director Kash Patel released four disturbing black-and-white images, along with video, of a masked, gloved, and apparently armed man attempting to dislodge a doorbell security camera on Ms. Guthrie’s Tucson home.The footage, taken hours before Ms. Guthrie’s family reported her missing on February 1, was the first time authorities released clear visual evidence of a possible suspect. Investigators had previously said a doorbell camera and floodlight were disabled, her pacemaker app had been disconnected from her Apple devices, and DNA testing later confirmed blood found near her front porch belonged to her.Late Tuesday night, Pima County sheriff’s deputies pulled over a car in Rio Rico, Arizona, roughly an hour south of Tucson and about 12 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The man, who later identified himself to reporters as delivery driver Carlos Palazuelos, 27, was detained for questioning, and authorities were careful not to identify him as a suspect. He later told reporters on Wednesday that authorities stopped him because his eyes resembled those of the masked person seen in the security footage. “All I know is they showed my in-law a picture of somebody wearing a mask or something, and it supposedly looked like my eyes,” Mr. Palazuelos said.The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI’s Evidence Response Team conducted a court-approved search of his home and property. Mr. Palazuelos was later released without charges. “Terrifying. Something I didn’t do. I felt like I was being kidnapped, bro. They didn’t tell me anything,” Mr. Palazuelos told reporters Wednesday.Mr. Palazuelos, upon being asked by reporters if he ever delivered a package to Ms. Guthrie’s Tucson home. replied, “I don’t know, it might have been a possibility.”Before Tuesday, the Guthrie family and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department were running on a handful of clues they believed pointed to her possible abduction. This included several ransom notes sent to media outlets demanding millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to be deposited directly into a cryptocurrency wallet to secure her release. Two deadlines set forth by the purported kidnapper came and went without incident. Savannah Guthrie and her siblings pleaded in a series of videos posted on her Instagram account for the kidnappers to communicate directly with them. Mr. Patel said both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department worked closely with private sector partners to recover footage and images from “backend systems,” despite Ms. Guthrie not having a monthly subscription to Google’s Nest. Such a subscription, authorities indicated, likely would have provided investigators with immediate access to security footage on the day she was discovered missing.It remains unclear if Ms. Guthrie, who suffers from a heart condition that requires both a pacemaker and prescription medication, is still alive. On Thursday, Savannah Guthrie posted on her Instagram a montage of old home videos and photos of herself and her siblings as children posing with “our lovely mom.” “We will never give up on her,” Savannah Guthrie wrote in her caption.

FBI Releases New Details About Masked Suspect and Suspicious Backpack, Doubles Reward in Search for Nancy Guthrie

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